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More Countries Hit Pause on AstraZeneca Vaccine; CNN Marks 10th Anniversary of Freedom Project; Navalny's First Comments from Penal Colony; Sign the Pledge #MyFreedomDay; Report: $131 Trillion Clean Energy Investment Needed by 2050; Prince Philip Released from Hospital. Aired 10- 11a ET
Aired March 16, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at this vaccination center just outside of Rome airport, they have been delivering the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But just as we arrive, officials here were given the word that they were no longer allowed to distribute it.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): The British prime minister vows the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is safe as dozens of E.U. nations press pause on
the vaccine.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Then --
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That does not mean that Russia's opposition leader getting an easy ride. because this
particular penal colony in the Vladimir region is one of Russia's most notorious.
ANDERSON (voice-over): CNN takes you to the prison camp, where Alexei Navalny will be spending the next 2.5 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): And --
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ANDERSON (voice-over): CNN marks My Freedom Day with kids across the world telling us what freedom means to them.
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ANDERSON: It's 3:00 in the afternoon in Rome. It's 5:00 pm in Vladimir, Russia. And it's 6:00 in the evening here in Abu Dhabi. Hello and welcome
to the program. I'm Becky Anderson.
Europe's lackluster vaccine rollout, already a laggard amongst the world's major nations, becoming further complicated more by geopolitics than sound
science. At least that is what the medical experts say.
Almost by the hour, more countries temporarily suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid, they say, concerns over its safety, concerns that
the World Health Organization and the company itself reckon are unfounded.
The latest coming after weeks of complaints over the company's production delays and bureaucratic infighting across the continent. Sweden, Cyprus,
Luxembourg, Latvia and Slovenia the latest joining the growing list of countries pausing the use of the product. You can see all of the red on
this map.
The reason, well, a small number of patients who took the vaccine experienced blood clots. This is, for sure, a big blow for vaccine
distribution in Europe and, in a larger sense, much of the world, particularly at a time when we are once again seeing an uptick in COVID
cases in some parts.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper to produce and it's easier to store than other approved vaccines; 3 billion doses are outlook for delivery this
year. Many set to go to developing nations. Critics say the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks.
We heard this last hour from the head of the European Medicines Agency. Have a listen.
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EMER COOKE, EUROPEAN MEDICINES AGENCY: I want to also stress that, at present, there is no indication that vaccination has caused these
conditions.
We are currently -- we are still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 with its associated risk of
hospitalization death outweigh the risk of these side effects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is the executive director at the European Medicines Agency. We've got correspondents fanned out across Europe. Melissa Bell is
in Rome with the latest on the vaccine pause there as Italy locks down its red zones once again.
Frederik Pleitgen is in Berlin, quarantined at home, and Cyril Vanier is in London, all with different takes on what are these unfolding crises.
Melissa, more and more countries are pausing their rollouts.
What's the latest where you are?
BELL: It was yesterday evening that the news came, Becky, that Italy was also fully stopping its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine. And we'd seen
over the course of the day yesterday that growing list you mention of European countries.
Even those who had initially supported the continued rollout, like France and Germany, changing their minds. Now this is, of course, important,
because, as you mention, it's a question of vaccine hesitancy. You're talking here in Europe about already vaccine skeptical populations that are
now seeing this row.
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BELL: And wondering if even were the advice to change and whatever the science ends up saying are going to have doubts about ever taking the
AstraZeneca vaccine. It's a question of vaccine hesitancy. It's also a question of supply for the European Union.
You heard the European Medicines Agency there say, a moment ago, look, we believe the risks are outweighed by the benefits. And we will get a proper
verdict on Thursday when the European Medicines Agency, having looked into these questions over those patients who develop blood clots, will be giving
its final verdict as to whether European countries should start again their rollout or keep it suspended.
But in the meantime, those questions of vaccine hesitancy come secondary to the questions of supply. AstraZeneca, one of the three main vaccines for
the time being, currently available in the E.U., we're talking about 8 million doses Europe-wide currently sitting on shelves, even as Europeans
need to get vaccinated.
And as the third wave continues to make progress in so many European countries, near Italy, it's day two of a partial lockdown, fairly strict
lockdown that's hammering the economy with those new variants causing such trouble.
That mixed message that people are receiving not only has an impact in terms of people getting shots in arms here in Europe but also more widely
being watched by the whole world as to whether they can or cannot go ahead and get themselves vaccinated safely -- Becky.
ANDERSON: What a mess. Melissa, thank you.
Fred, you're in Germany, a country that's had a rocky rollout with the decision to pull AstraZeneca, sending the country even further back in its
bid to achieve herd immunity.
What pressures is Chancellor Angela Merkel facing at this point?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's gigantic pressure and certainly it's a disaster for her. It's a disaster for her
government.
Of course, one of the things that's really caused her to lose a lot of public trust and caused her government to lose public trust has been the
fact you mentioned the vaccine rollout here in Germany has been very slow.
Now part of that was due to the fact that Germany, like almost all other European countries, E.U. countries, doesn't have enough vaccine to go
around. But a lot of it specifically had to do with AstraZeneca as well.
Some of the things were production delays, some was an issue in the German medicines agency only approving AstraZeneca for people 65 and under
initially. That caused a lot of public trust in the AstraZeneca vaccine to be destroyed.
The German medicines agency then reversed that verdict and allowed it for all age groups. Trust was just starting to come back and now you have this.
And it's a big problem as Germany tries to get its vaccine rollout going.
One of the things the Germans did at the beginning and are quite frankly still doing is they have big centralized vaccination centers. Those weren't
moving along quickly. Now the Germans decided they wanted general practitioners to start administering the vaccine, go to your local doctor
and get the vaccine there.
That's not going to be possible because that was supposed to be done with the AstraZeneca vaccine. So right now Angela Merkel taking a lot of heat,
her health minister taking a lot of heat, all this as cases in Germany continue to rise -- Becky.
ANDERSON: That's the story in Berlin. Thank you, Fred.
Let's get you to London.
Cyril, the U.K. has not halted its rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. The British prime minister Boris Johnson defending it as safe.
This, of course, was a vaccine which was developed in conjunction with researchers and scientists at Oxford University in the U.K. Now the front
cover of the "Daily Mail" today calling the E.U. reckless and saying it is, quote, "risking lives." You have effectively the counternarrative in the
U.K. Walk us through, if you will.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can always trust the "Daily Mail" to be jingoistic. But on this occasion, I think it reflects the sentiment of a
large number of people here, from the prime minister on down to the general population.
The vaccine here is referred to not as the AstraZeneca vaccine but as the Oxford vaccine. There's almost a sentimental attachment to it because it
was developed here. At no point did the U.K. ever consider pausing its AstraZeneca rollout.
Boris Johnson writing this morning in an opinion piece in "The Times" that that vaccine is safe, quote, "and works extremely well." And that is
exactly what the British health authorities have been saying.
The MHRA, the regulatory agency here, saying recently, I want to read their statement. "We are closely reviewing reports but given the large number of
doses administered and the frequency at which blood clots can occur naturally, the evidence available does not suggest that the vaccine is the
cause."
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VANIER: Meaning the cause of the suspected potential adverse side effects. So the U.K., frankly, is baffled by how European member states have been
treating AstraZeneca by the extreme level of caution that they have shown, which, according to experts here, simply isn't warranted.
And Britons have seen the benefits of using AstraZeneca on a massive scale. Their vaccine rollout has been huge success. More than 10 million have
received the AstraZeneca vaccine and it's what's allowed the country to go from 60,000 infections a day at the beginning of the year to 5,000 today.
ANDERSON: Cyril Vanier is in what is in a very busy and noisy London, certainly a noisy London this afternoon, perhaps not as busy as it might be
on a regular occasion because London still in a lockdown.
To all of you, thank you. The perspectives from where you are, are really important.
I want to really drill down on this point. Public health officials in Belgium say they have the science on their side and will not put a halt to
the use of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine product. Here's how the chair of the country's health committee explained the decision.
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YVES VAN LEATHERN, BELGIUM'S SUPERIOR HEALTH COMMITTEE (through translator): Belgium has decided to continue the vaccination campaign with
the AstraZeneca vaccine as it started.
This is important because it is based on scientific data and we want it to remain as scientific as possible in the media with the political turmoil
that is shaking Europe at the moment.
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ANDERSON: My next guest says the danger is in stopping the vaccine rollout. Marc Van Ranst said the side effects of stopping AstraZeneca
vaccinations are COVID-19 hospitalizations, long-term organ damage from COVID-19 and death from the virus.
Marc Van Ranst is a Belgian virologist and joins us from Brussels to sort out the safety concerns surrounding this vaccine.
Good to have you. If it is such a no-brainer not to put a pause on this distribution, why are such powerful and important E.U. countries with
already slow, disappointingly slow rollouts, threatening to slow them so much further by putting a pause on this product?
MARC VAN RANST, VIROLOGIST: I think once large and influential countries pauses this vaccination, others tend to become overcautious and they often
seem to lack the courage to do the evidence-based thing rather than the emotion-based thing.
ANDERSON: Let's talk about the evidence here. Let's talk about what we know. These suspensions go against the advice of the WHO and the advice of
the European Medicines Agency.
About 17 million people in the E.U. and the U.K. have received this vaccine so far and fewer than 40 cases of blood clots have been reported. That is
according to the company itself. British scientists have described these temporary suspensions of the vaccine as baffling.
Sir, do you think what is going on in Europe is an overreaction and, further, might this be a game of geopolitics playing out here?
VAN RANST: I hope not because that would be very cynical. But I don't think they're doing the right thing. I hope, on Thursday, the European
Medicines Agency can put this to rest.
Yes, there are some cases but it's no more than the background. It's no more with the AstraZeneca vaccine than with the other vaccines. And it's
definitely far less than what you would expect in 17 million vaccines being put in arms.
So I don't think that they are making the right decision and I hope that they will reverse the decision. But when they do, even when they do, the
damage is done. People who are vaccine hesitant will not become less vaccine hesitant when they watch these episodes.
ANDERSON: You hope that the EMA will put this issue to rest Thursday, you say, and you hope this decision will be reversed. We've just listened to
the executive director of the European Medicines Agency. It sounded like she had already put this to rest, sir.
VAN RANST: Well, they put on their website a strongly supporting statement. They repeat that statement during their press conference today.
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VAN RANST: So it almost looks like they have made their mind up already. They are just looking for the hard numbers, for the justification and then
hopefully come with an extremely strong case on Thursday.
ANDERSON: Throughout this pandemic, sir, health experts have urged the public not to jump to conclusions about vaccine safety based solely on
reports of adverse events. To determine a causal link between this vaccine and blood clots, experts say, an epidemiology study is needed.
Can you explain to our viewers what causality is and why it's so important?
VAN RANST: Well, people think that whatever happens after a vaccination is caused by the vaccination. And that is simply not true. A lot of things
happen to people after they get vaccinated. They might have a car accident. A lot of bad things might happen.
And many people will not correlate the auto accident, the car accident, with the vaccine. However when two things are in the medical field,
vaccination and a side effect or a presumed side effect, then, in people's mind, these two things are linked together and they come to the conclusion
it must be linked to the vaccine; whereas, the numbers do not support that.
ANDERSON: You have voiced your concerns about those who are already vaccine hesitant being more so potentially as they continue to read story
after story about this. I just wonder, sir, whether you think there are European leaders who have been less than cautious, let's say, in the way
they have gone about this narrative.
VAN RANST: I think they have. And they should take more responsibility there. If you do this, it has grave consequences. And it has grave
consequences for the health of the Europeans. I'm sure everybody tries to do the right thing. But you can be overcautious and I think that is what is
happening here in Europe today.
ANDERSON: With that, we'll leave it there, sir. Your insight and analysis is extremely important to us. Thank you.
VAN RANST: Thank you, Becky.
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ANDERSON: For the past five years, CNN has partnered with youngsters around the world for a student-led day of action against modern day
slavery. Well, today is the day, My Freedom Day.
This year we are asking young people to pledge to do what they can to help end modern day slavery. It is a scourge and it must stop. Here's what a few
students from Germany and Nigeria had to say about today.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. I'm from Germany. I do not support human trafficking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Marceline. I promise to help put an end to slavery and help take action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Leonard from Germany. And I support My Freedom Day by saying no to slavery.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does freedom mean to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is an expression of my thoughts and feelings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is to breathe freely without a mask.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is holding hands and hugging, laughing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom is -- helping build bridges.
STUDENTS: We want to live in a free world. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: They get it. This morning I joined some other youngsters at the American Community School right here in Abu Dhabi. One of the students,
Matthew, telling me the next generation, his generation, needs to be the leaders of change. Have a listen.
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MATTHEW, AMERICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL: Here we are in 2021 and people are still being deprived of their most fundamental human right, the right to be
free. This past year, I've been taking activism. And I've really come to the realization that the younger generation is the main leader of change.
And we are capable to change a lot and spread awareness. We also -- we represent peace and we represent the future. And if we work together, we
can eradicate modern slavery and make the world a much better place.
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ANDERSON: And some terrific projects and initiatives going on at ACS today. I met the grade 5, grade 6, grade 11.
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ANDERSON: All involved in initiatives to help end modern-day slavery. We encourage you to share your pledge on social media using #MyFreedomDay.
Here are a few of the great responses we have already had in today.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, freedom is --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me freedom is --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me freedom is --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- the ability to write, to speak, think and do as one wants to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Myos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm Phoenix. We're signing the My Freedom Day pledge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Greta in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm signing the My Freedom Day pledge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I signed this paper and you should also. I try to buy from businesses that treat their workers fairly. Let's all do our part.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will take into consideration of a company's business practices when buying things like clothes, chocolate and
electronics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support My Freedom Day by saying no to slavery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pledge to take action whenever someone is getting discriminated because of their color, race or religion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise to help put an end to slavery and take action.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel free when I'm able to play tennis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like to play. I can do this because I'm free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pledge to fight human trafficking and modern slavery. I fight. I fight. I fight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we work together, we can stop slavery forever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pledge to understand online dangers and speak up if I see friends who might be making a bad decision.
STUDENTS: We want to live in a free world.
STUDENTS: Let's end modern-day slavery.
ANDERSON (voice-over): And you, too, can do this. Don't forget you can tune in this weekend where I will be hosting a special My Freedom Day
global forum. I'll connect you to hundreds of students across five continents in their efforts to spread awareness and eradicate modern-day
slavery.
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ANDERSON: Up next, no easy ride for the Kremlin's most outspoken critic.
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CHANCE: This particular penal colony in the Vladimir region is one of Russia's most notorious.
ANDERSON (voice-over): CNN's Matthew Chance gets a closer look at Alexei Navalny's new home. It's a prison camp, which one human rights worker says
breaks its inmates.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): And if the climate crisis to be conquered, clean energy must rule by mid century. We're getting an idea how much that will
cost, just ahead.
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ANDERSON: You can tell a lot about how civilized a society is by entering its prisons, paraphrasing Dostoyevsky for you. And I'd love to know what he
would have made of Penal Colony 2. That is where Alexei Navalny is likely spending the next 2.5 years of his life.
The opposition leader spoke out against the Russian president and then he says he was poisoned and imprisoned. Now a court hearing about that
poisoning has been put off until Monday. Navalny himself still hasn't lost his sense of gallows humor, though, commenting on Instagram the that
Russian prison system still surprises him.
And quoting now, "I had no idea that it was possible to arrange a real concentration camp 100 kilometers from Moscow."
Well, that is no joke. CNN's Matthew Chance managed to get a closer look. And some of this video is disturbing.
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CHANCE: OK. So we're coming up now on the penal colony, where Alexei Navalny will spend the next 2.5 years, a couple of hours from Moscow.
That's going to be much easier for his friends, his family and colleagues to come and visit him here.
But that does not mean that Russia's opposition leader is getting an easy ride because this particular penal colony in the Vladimir region is one of
Russia's most notorious.
CHANCE (voice-over): Hidden behind a corrugated fence and rusty razor wire, Colony Number 2 looks like a grim, unwelcoming place. Can't see much
from outside but Putin critic Navalny, his head shaven, has already aired his impressions on Instagram.
"I had no idea it was possible to arrange a real concentration camp so close to Moscow," he posted.
In the team behind Navalny, who has already survived a nerve agent poisoning before being put behind bars, has also broadcast these drone
images from above, showing the bleak barracks where penal colony prisoners eat, work and sleep; 50 to 60 people crammed into a single dorm, say former
inmates. Not ideal during a pandemic.
KONSTANTIN KOTOV, FORMER PENAL COLONY PRISONER: This is the church.
CHANCE: This is where you were, where you stayed?
CHANCE (voice-over): Konstantin Kotov says he'll never forget his ordeal on the inside. He's been imprisoned here twice, he told me, after being
arrested at anti-Kremlin protests, enduring nearly a year of what he describes as psychological torture. It won't be easy for Navalny, either.
"They forbid you to talk with other convicts," he tells me. "You're on your feet all day from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm and never allowed to sit down. You
can't even read or write letters," he says, "for weeks on end. But if you break any tiny rule, you'll be disciplined, humiliated and isolated even
further," he says.
Russian prison authorities insist Navalny will be treated like any other prisoner and won't be singled out. But scrutiny here isn't welcomed.
CHANCE: This is the front gate of the prison colony, where Alexei Navalny has been interned. These guards are waiting for us. One guy shaking his
head there with the lovely dog.
Is it possible to register to be in this area?
(Speaking Russian).
Nyet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Russian).
CHANCE: (Speaking Russian).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Russian).
CHANCE: It's because it's the territory of the prison, they say, we can't even register to be here. Russians are notoriously secretive about their
prisons because they know the conditions inside are poor, not just in this one but in prisons around the country.
CHANCE (voice-over): This disturbing video, posted by a Russian newspaper, shows prisoners being cruelly beaten by guards in a penal colony in
Yaroslav, the region next door to where Navalny is being held.
A Russian court has convicted several people of involvement in what's become a national prison scandal. It is common knowledge among inmates
these kinds of beatings are widespread.
"Most often they would unscrew a chair leg and hit people on their heels," the former inmate tells me. But after the scandal of his poisoning, they'll
probably want to keep Navalny healthy," he says. Their purpose is to restrict his communications and deprive him of his voice.
And to keep Russia's most high-profile Kremlin critic firmly hidden from view.
CHANCE: All right. Thank you.
CHANCE (voice-over): Matthew Chance, CNN, Vladimir, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD later, climate experts say the changes must be drastic if we want to save our planet. Now we know that
comes with a 15-digit price tag. The details from the study based right here in Abu Dhabi are up here next.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) speak, sing and dance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). My Freedom Day.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Those kindergartners in Bulgaria taking part in My Freedom Day, a day dedicated here at CNN to raising awareness about human
trafficking and modern day slavery.
This year we're asking youngsters to make a pledge, promising to get involved, to take action. And you, too, can do that. Sign the pledge and
nominate your friends to do the same and share your pledge on social media using #MyFreedomDay. All the information is there at cnn.com.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: There's a mind-boggling price tag to cope with our planet's climate crisis. Experts tell us there must be a big increase in spending on
clean energy. A total of $131 trillion by midcentury if we want to avoid catastrophe.
This is a study published by the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency and it lays out details on the sustainable sources we'll need
to get the job done. And that includes the long sought promise of green hydrogen. John Defterios, our expert on fossil fuels and renewables,
joining us now here in Abu Dhabi.
And this report lays out in very stark terms what it's going to take to meet the Paris climate agreement guidelines. I just wonder whether you see
a disconnect here and by how much.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, I tell you, it's a heavy price tag. According to IRENA, it's tight but doable in terms of the
timeline. But where we are in 2021, realistically, is behind the 8 ball. That's why there's a sense of urgency in this report.
They say two key ingredients are needed. That's speed and scale. And we often throw around that 1.5-degree centigrade rise in global warming.
There's a point of no return above 2 degrees and above and trying to get it back is impossible, according to the science.
And when we talk about scale, you have that headline number, $131 trillion with a T, yes, with $4.4 trillion per year.
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DEFTERIOS: That's increasing annual spending at a pace of 30 percent. And also redirecting the money from hydrocarbons into the bouquet of
renewables. Hydrogen, solar wind, battery storage and energy efficiency, we need it all.
And the director general told me ahead of the announcement of this report today that we see emissions rising rapidly in the economic recovery after
the pandemic, especially in China. We should be alarmed. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCESCO LA CAMERA, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IRENA: We are going in the wrong direction. The pathway to 1.5 is narrowing. And so this is the first
message that we put very clearly.
And then we put the question to the government, you want to really go for the 1.5?
These are the option that you have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: La Camera saying there are no other options but to reduce the demand for oil and rapidly. They said in IRENA, this is the first time oil
peaked in 2019 at 100 million barrels a day and it has to go down to meet the climate targets to 20 million to 25 million barrels a day.
For the oil producing nations that would be a shock and I think it was bold because I've seen three different scenarios out there. And I've never seen
one yet for 25 million barrels a day.
ANDERSON: Yes, I mean, fascinating, isn't it?
Look, our viewers, wherever they are watching in the world, might be surprised by the fact this report comes from an agency based here in the
UAE. They shouldn't be. This is a country looking beyond oil to a post-oil diversified economy. They get it. Other Gulf states get it. It is clear
this is the way forward, whether they like it or not.
But there are, of course, geopolitical implications for the Middle Eastern producers, who are, at least today, dependent on oil revenues, John.
DEFTERIOS: Yes, this is the geopolitical risk from the energy transition. I'm glad you brought it up in the context you have. You have to put at the
top of the list those in the risk category because of the pace of the transition that IRENA is suggesting here. I would say Iran and Iraq, Libya,
of course, Saudi Arabia, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, this is the reason he's pushing diversification. They know the transition is underway.
The UAE has a smaller population, has been planning for the transition and has sovereign wealth of over $1 trillion. So they can make that transition
at a faster pace. Also think in the wider context, Russia, Nigeria, Venezuela, there will be major fallout.
And in terms of getting this transition done, IRENA's director general said it's great to have Joe Biden on board here with John Kerry and getting the
top five emitters done and out the door on the same page for COP26 at the end of the year. This is the year of the shift but it needs to be
solidified.
ANDERSON: Interesting. John, always a pleasure. Thank you, sir.
John Defterios in the house.
Out of the hospital and on the mend. We'll update you on Prince Philip's condition and what we've learned about his stay in hospital. That's after
this.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. It's 40 minutes past 6:00 here in Abu Dhabi.
Well, in the last couple of hours, Britain's Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband, finally leaving hospital after a month. You can see
him being driven away here and back to Windsor Palace, where he will indeed join his wife. Our royal correspondent Max Foster joining us from Windsor
with the details -- Max.
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Here he is, back in the bubble, Becky, they have been in, really, all of this year. But this was obviously
a period where they were separated. The longest time that Prince Philip has been in hospital as far as we're aware, exactly a month.
Initially to have an infection treated and then he had a procedure for pre- existing heart condition. We haven't been told any more about that. But clearly his treatment has gone well.
You're showing those images of him leaving King Edward VII hospital today. If we've got closeups of him, he's in the back seat, sitting up. He's 99
years old. He looks pretty well, considering what he's been through at his age. I'm told he is in good spirits.
Some good news really, Becky. He's back here and I don't think they would have brought him back if they weren't fully confident this infection has
been treated properly and the procedure did indeed go well.
ANDERSON: Max Foster is at Windsor for you. Always a pleasure, Max, thank you.
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